Films Suggested by Catholics

Here are responses to the following question we sent to Catholic clergy and representatives:

What general release movie or movies (as in, something one might find in well-stocked video shop) are most representative of Catholic thought, belief, culture and/or history?

I'm not interested in a documentary, but something that those in your religion might uniquely identify with, whether because it's set in particularly important historical period, it features a modern adherent as a character, or even a Disney animated movie that presented a particular philosophy which rings especially true for your group.

Jesus of Nazereth(almost any movie depicting the old and new testament of the bible)
Romero
Maximillian: Saint of Auschwitz
Miracle of Marcelino
Mother Teresa
Spitfire Grill
St. Maria Goretti: 14 Flowers of Pardon(any movie about the life of a saint)

Thank you for a very good question. There are two movies done in the last
five years on rather outstanding Catholic figures which I would see as very
representative of the best of our church and our prophetic actions.
Entertaining Angels (Dorothy Day Story)
Romero

Another current one representing a kind of a broad Catholic vision of hope
is the current Oscar nominee:
Life is Beautiful

This is a pretty subjective question but I know you can't go wrong with the
first two.

[Second Response]My recommendations still stand but when I received your reply I thought of a list that the Vatican drew up a couple of years ago of the 45 best films in the categories of religion, values and art. I went through and knocked out the foreign ones and tried to end up a list of 5 or so in each category. You can go the Web site mentioned here and get the complete list if you like. Just give them credit.

Tom McCloskey's picks from the Vatican Best Films List
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of cinema in 1995, the Vatican
compiled this list of "great films." The 45 movies are divided into three
categories: "Religion," "Values" and "Art." The USCC classification for
each film follows its description

[NOTE: Descriptions below are portions of the movie descriptions on available on the NCCB/USCC Home Page, Film & Broadcasting Home Page (Weekly Movie Reviews)]

ReligionBabette's Feast (1988) -- Shows the impact of a French housekeeper (Stephane Audran) on two pious sisters who carry on their late father's work as pastor of a dwindling religious flock.

Ben-Hur (1959) -- Director William Wyler's classic Hollywood epic follows the
Jewish prince of the title after he's betrayed by his boyhood Roman friend (Stephen Boyd) and subjected to much misery until finally achieving retribution for all his suffering.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1966) -- Straight-forward Italian
dramatization of the evangelist's account of the life of Jesus and His
message of salvation succeeds exceptionally well in placing the viewer
within the Gospel events, avoiding the artificiality of most biblical movie
epics.

A Man for All Seasons (1966) -- Engrossing drama of the last seven years in the life of Thomas More, Henry VIII's chancellor, who met a martyr's death
rather than compromise his conscience during a period of religious turmoil.

The Mission (1986) -- In the 1750s, the large and prosperous Jesuit Indian missions were divided between Spain and Portugal. In dramatizing these
events, Robert Bolt's screenplay focuses not on the religious but on the
sociopolitical dimension of the colonial era and its injustices. The epic
production is visually splendid but Roland Joffe's direction is erratic and
bogs down in contrasting a nonviolent priest (Jeremy Irons) and one (Robert
De Niro) who leads the Indians against a colonial army. Although
dramatically flawed, the work recalls a past that provides a context for
current Latin American struggles. Some violence and ethnographic nudity.

ValuesAu Revoir les Enfants (1988) -- When the Gestapo discover that a priest has hidden three Jewish youths in a Catholic boys' school, he and the boys are
arrested and deported to concentration camps. French writer-producer-director Louis Malle re-creates a painful memory from his own youth in a restrained, humbling, well-acted dramatization of a boy's firsthand experience of the Holocaust. Subtitles. Some rough language.